Fake 8 (the end)

Disclaimer: I don't own them. ;_; Other then Danny, Sean, Josh, Brett and Laura.

Comments in the brackets [ ] are by me, and are meant to entertain. They aren't actually part of the story. So just ignore them, unless you think I'm amusing, or something.

Part 8

-

Once I had my heroes
Once I had my dreams
But all of that is changed now
The truth begins again
The truth is not that comfortable, no

Moby 'When I Reach For My Revolver'

-

"EH?! They let her out?"

"Mm, on bail."

"But..."

"They confiscated her gun."

"What if she has another?"

"She's only registered to use that one, and Danny said she'd never seen another."

"Really?" Dee leaned back in his chair. "I don't like it."

"Eh?"

Dee stared up at the ceiling. "I said I don't like it. I don't think this is over yet."

"Why?"

"I don't know...Just...Something in her eyes. I don't think she's going to forgive JJ that easily."

"JJ can handle himself." Ryo glared.

Dee blinked, then smirked. "Are you jealous? Of JJ? Why, Ryo!"

"I am not jealous!" Ryo protested.

"Oh really?" Dee grabbed Ryo and half-pulled him over the desk, kissing him. "Then...you won't mind if I..."

"Dee?"

"Run over there!" He grabbed his coat, smirked, and ran out the door. Ryo gaped after him for a minute, then scowled. "DEE! Get back here!"

He grabbed his pager from the desk, running out the door after Dee. A minute later... "HEY! What do you think you're doing, running off in the middle of the day? Get back in there!"

"Chief! But, Dee-!"

"No buts, get back in there!"

"Chiiief!"

"You heard me McLane."

Ryo slumped as he walked back into the office. He glared at the far wall. Dee would pay for this... He may not be able to get him now, but it would only be a matter of time.

* * *

Dee peered up and down the apartment hallway, then grinned. "Worked like a charm."

He knew Ryo wouldn't approve. Ryo was so naïve, he trusted people way too much. Raising his hand he knocked on the door. He plastered a fake smile on his face as he heard a woman answer. "Who is it?"

"Dee Laytner."

There was a pause, then the door opened. Laura glared mistrustfully at him. "What is it?"

"Sorry to bother you, just had a few more questions." He waved a hand, as if to dismiss the whole thing as trivial. "You know how red tape is."

She watched him a moment, then stepped back inside, leaving the door open. Taking it as an invitation he walked in as well. She turned to him. "Would you like something to drink?"

"No thanks."

She shrugged and walked over to the table, leafing through some paperwork. "What did you want to ask?"

"Just a few questions about some things your file wasn't too clear on."

"Like what?"

"Your parents murder."

She hesitated, then turned her head. "I would've thought that that would be well-documented. It was quite a sensation at the time."

"Indeed. A man and his wife, leaving a little girl alone in the house, no witnesses, no visible signs of forced entry, no sign of a struggle until after the blow had been struck. Kind of unusual."

"Someone broke in, tried to rob the place, but was interrupted and killed them with a skinning knife he picked up off a table."

"A knife you coincidentally had in your room."

"My grandfather had given it to me as a present for my birthday."

"And you were, also coincidentally, not in that part of the house at the time? According to your own testimony, you were in the kitchen, correct?"

"Yes."

"And you didn't hear or see anything?"

"Correct."

"You didn't hear any noise, at all?"

"Nothing unusual."

"Now, I find that even more strange than the rest of the story. A girl is in the kitchen, getting a snack, and she totally misses the entrance of a burglar, her father, who we know abused her, going into her room in a rage, her mother following him, the burglar killing them, their death struggles and the burglar leaving? And she doesn't find the bodies for ten minutes after they've been killed?"

"..."

"What kind of snack were you getting?"

"..."

"Tell me, Laura, how is it that your parents got halfway into the room without even noticing a man holding a skinning knife?"

"...I don't know."

"I know, if I went into my daughter's room and a strange man was there and I saw him grab a knife I'd probably react."

"The police said he'd heard them coming up the hallway, grabbed the knife and hidden to attack them when they came in."

"But he didn't do anything until they'd gotten all the way in the room. Wouldn't it be smarter to attack when they came in, so they wouldn't spot him?"

"Maybe he wasn't that smart."

"But he was smart enough not to be seen by anyone?'

"...Apparently." She grabbed the papers and walked past Dee to her desk, opening the drawer to put them inside.

"This is some burglar...He comes in, performs this rather extraordinary murder, without making a noise and leaves without taking anything?"

"Perhaps what he'd done scared him."

"Perhaps...Or perhaps we should take another look at the evidence. No sign of break in, an abused girl, her father in a rage, both her parents in her room. A skinning knife, which her grandfather had taught her to use when he gave it to her, on the table. A little girl who, after her parents death, supposedly displayed little grief. No signs of break-in and a story that, when I asked Josh about it, was 'so unbelievable not even the worst murder mystery would use it'."

"..."

"And now we have the murders of a series of girls, all models. You work with models closely don't you Laura, with Danny? They all had their throats cut under mysterious circumstances too. JJ asked the forensics team about the knife used, it wasn't a common one. They told him it was a skinning knife, often used by hunters, but that the blade was of a type used by a company that went bankrupt years ago. I checked your records, and would you believe that the knife used in your parents murder was the exact same type as what killed those girls?"

"Really? I didn't know that."

"Well, it is. And... Didn't your grandfather give you a matched pair? I heard they never found that second knife" She shut the drawer and turned to face him, hands behind her back. "Everyone assumed the thief had taken it with him when he left."

"Tell me, Laura, where's that knife?"

"How should I know?"

"Because you used it to kill those girls. You're a well known figure in the modeling industry, being tied so closely with Danny. It would've been easy for you to get them alone. And..." He grabbed her right arm, pinning it against the desk. "You left early, that day Sarah was killed, didn't you?"

She simply smiled.

He slapped her, knocking her back on her heels. "I don't give a shit what happened to you in the past or what kind of fucked up mental issues you have. You never should've messed with my friends."

She turned back to face him, lip bleeding slightly. "I've been wondering for the longest time..."

"What?" Dee blinked, taken aback by the cold smile she was giving him.

"What would a person look like without any skin? I never did get to find out."

He jumped back, reaching for his gun. She was faster, lashing out with a paperweight from off the desk, catching him on the temple. He fell to the ground, vision blurring. "Let me guess, you didn't tell that delicious partner of yours where you were going, did you? I don't think he'd be the type to approve of this, he struck me as a guy who'd stick to the rules no matter what."

Dee couldn't respond, he could barely even make sense of what she was saying. He could vaguely see a spreading puddle of darkness across the floor. He didn't flinch as a knife embedded itself in the floor an inch from his nose. "Is that the knife you wanted, officer? I seem to have found it. Imagine, after all these years... It's a bit dirty though, so you probably don't really want it." A hand wrapped around the hilt, pulling the knife from the carpet. He couldn't lift his head to see where it went.

"That's a nasty wound, officer Laytner. You should be more careful. Something like that could kill you." A childish giggle. "You want to know why I killed them, didn't you? Well you probably won't be telling anyone else. And it's the villainous thing to do, isn't it, telling everything?"

"Did I ever tell you how I met Danny?" She knelt down in front of him, playing with the knife. "I don't think I did. Well, it's important so I'll tell you now. It was before she met that idiot Adams. She was so sweet and innocent, just like a little girl. I always wanted a little girl, you know. Someone sweet and pretty to take care of." A twisted smile. "She never had a mother, did you know that? She died when Danny was very young...Well, I decided right when I first saw her that I was going to take care of her. She couldn't handle herself, you know, being so naïve. Children always think they can take care of themselves, but when it gets right down to it...well...Anyway, I signed on as her manager, I knew she was destined to be great, with just a little pushing. I even found her a nice boyfriend, Sean. Bet you didn't know that, did you? Danny and Sean were supposed to do the usual teenagers in love thing, but they didn't seem to get along that well, alas."

She tapped him on the cheek with the knife. "Her loss, my gain. Sean's such a sweet boy..." She frowned. "Oh, but I was talking about Danny, wasn't I? Or was it the murders...yes, the murders. Well, you see, Danny was supposed to be a big star. But she never liked traveling much, did you know she gets air sick? Makes things very hard, I'll tell you. So I came up with an idea, let's move out here to New York, where most of the shoots are indoors and local and then she wouldn't have to travel. But..." She sighed sadly. "There are so many girls who want to be models now a days it's hard for even someone like Danny to get ahead of the game. So..." She grinned brightly. "I thought of a way! If the competition dies not only are they removed, but the surviving models get even more attention! Wasn't that a great idea?"

"... No? Oh, well, it worked, didn't it? Danny's more popular than ever. If you hadn't come along and ruined everything who knows how long it could've gone on, how famous she could've been." She thought a bit. "Well, I'll just have to resort to plan B then." She stood, taking the knife with her. "What could possibly make someone more famous than a connection to a serial murderer? Of course, I'll have to go out in style. And sitting here in a pool of your blood is not the kind of style I mean... I know!" Laughter. "I'll kill Sean and Jamie! Maybe that partner of yours, for good measure. Yes, that will take care of things." She patted him on the cheek. "Goodbye, officer Laytner. Thank you for all your help."

He could vaguely hear her walking off, but couldn't seem to summon the energy to move. It was getting very dark, wasn't it? Strange, he hadn't heard her turn off the light...

* * *

Ryo sighed, leaning against JJ's hospital room door. He'd finally managed to escape when the Chief went to lunch, but Dee wasn't here. According to Sean and Danny he'd never come in, or at least never come to their rooms. He could've sworn Dee'd said he was running off to check on them, but...He shook his head, staring up at the ceiling. Where was Dee now? Probably in trouble, knowing him. He smiled faintly, but couldn't shake the sense of worry that'd fallen over him.

He looked up as he heard footsteps approaching and waved. "Hello, Laura."

She didn't respond, simply walked closer and closer.

"Laura? Are you all right?"

"...Is Sean in?"

"Yes. JJ's asleep though, so I don't think it's a good time to bother them."

She shrugged. "That won't matter."

"Hmm?" He blinked. "What's wrong, Laura?"

She was only a couple feet away from him, head down, bangs overshadowing her eyes. She stopped suddenly, looking up at him. "Ryo..."

"H-hai?"

"Do you know where officer Laytner is?"

"Ummm, no actually."

She smiled slightly. "I see."

*click* "I can tell you."

Laura frowned, half-turning her head. Ryo jumped at the sudden noise and presence. "Josh!"

Josh smiled coldly, pushing the tip of his gun further into the back of Laura's neck. "Hi, Ryo. Hello Laura."

"What are you doing?" Laura's voice was cold.

"For someone who's managed to get away with so much you really are an idiot, Laura. You never thought to check for someone watching your apartment, did you? You didn't think I'd just let you get away with shooting JJ like that, did you?"

"You never liked him."

"But Danny does. That's what matters."

Ryo sweatdropped. "Umm...Josh...What's happening?"

Josh smiled. "You wanted to know where Dee was, right?"

"Yes...?"

"Well, I can tell you. He ran out of the station in a hurry, didn't he? A short time after getting a phone call or a report?"

"A report, yes. Why?"

"Well, want to know where he went?"

Laura cut in. "I'd say right about now he's somewhere well out of your reach, Ryo."

Ryo blinked. "Huh?"

Josh shook his head. "Laura, you never admit you've done something until they list the evidence against you. You're a very bad villain."

"I skipped class."

"Umm...What're you two talking about?" Ryo wasn't quite sure what was going on, all he could see was a bit of Josh's face, Laura blocked the rest.

"I'll tell you later."

"Why don't you tell him now, Mr. Raven?"

"I'm more interested in why you're here now. You might've gotten away with it, if you'd just stayed and cleaned your mess."

"Perhaps...But I think it's time to end this game." She deliberately turned, despite the gun against her neck. "Why don't you shoot, Josh?"

"Why are you here?"

"Or you, McLane."

"Huh? Shoot? What's going on here?"

"Nothing too important, officer. Just finishing up what I started. I do hate to leave something unfinished."

"Or someone alive."

"You say it your way, I say it mine."

Ryo snapped. He reached for Laura, pulling her away from Josh. "All right, what the hell is-"

He cut off as a flash of bright steel buried itself in his thigh. Gasping he fell back, deafened by the sudden blast as Josh pulled the trigger. Twice. Three times.

Laura fell, even as Ryo did, hitting the tiled floor with a meaty thud. Ryo managed to get his hands out to break his fall, Laura no longer had any need to. The cop stared at the bloody body lying in front of him, then reached for his own gun. Josh grabbed it from him, tossing it down the hallway. Distantly Ryo could hear people shouting, footsteps coming closer.

Josh stared down at him, seemingly unaware of the red stains spotting his face and shirt. "You wanted to know where Dee was, didn't you?"

"..." Ryo nodded stupidly. Thinking was too hard right now.

"Right now he's in surgery. Laura hit him over the head with a metal paperweight. It cut his skull and cracked the bone...Buuuut...he'll be fine!" Josh smiled. "How about that?"

Ryo blinked. "what?"

"Hmm..." Josh kneeled before him, then smiled. "Ahh, shock. I see." He patted Ryo on the head, then casually knocked him out using the butt of his gun. "Sorry, but I have to get out of here before everyone arrives. Murder investigations are such a pain, you know?"

He grabbed his coat off a nearby chair and wiped his face off with a towel. After he pulled the coat and zipped it up he simply walked off down the hallway. Deliberately he went through the lesser used halls, towards the nearest exit. He smiled at the man standing in the emergency exit doorway. "How is he?"

His brother smiled. "He'll be fine. Nothing serious. It looked a lot worse then it was because he was bleeding all over. I'd say he was moving when she hit him, so she didn't get a good blow."

Josh sighed, leaning against a wall. "This all seems so surreal... I feel like I'm in some kind of bad mystery or something."

"...Josh."

"Yeah?"

"You think too much. Let's go get you cleaned up."

Josh acked as his brother grabbed him in a headlock. "Lemme go!"

Brett dragged him off, laughing. "The villain's dead, the girl, and guys, are safe and everything's good in the end. Don't need to think about it anymore than that.'

"So you say."

"Yes, and I'm your big brother so you're supposed to listen to me."

"Whoever came up with that stupid rule must've never met you..."

"Be quiet."

* * *

Dee opened his eyes slowly. Light hurt... he shut them again, moaning quietly.

"Dee?"

Ryo?

"Nngh..."

"Don't move, Dee." Someone took his hand. "You're at the hospital."

"L-Laura..."

"...She's dead."

"Nn?"

"She was shot...She stabbed me in the leg-"

"NGGH!" He thrashed, trying to get up. She'd pay!

"DEE! Settle down, you'll hurt yourself!" Ryo manhandled him back into the bed and, since Dee refused to be still, lay on top of him. Dee made a face, trying to squirm free. "L'mme go. K'll 'er."

Ryo sighed. "Dee, aren't you paying attention? She's already dead..."

"K'll 'er 'gain..."

Ryo was about to say something, then smiled and hugged Dee close. "Idiot."

"Mm?"

"I'm fine. Don't worry. I got bandaged up right away and they have me on some very nice painkillers."

"Danny?"

"She's fine. Josh's taking care of her...She isn't taking this very well..."

"Laura or JJ?"

"Laura... She really liked her, you know. It's kind of hard to believe that someone could do such awful things and be such a nice person normally."

"She did it for Danny."

"Eh?"

"She thought it'd help her." Memories of her little 'explanation' returned to him. "She wanted Danny to be happy..."

"So she killed people?"

"People do strange things for love...I mean, look at me!"

"What about you?"

"I'm in a hospital bed with a head wound and I've got someone sitting on top of me, that's what."

Ryo blinked, then made a face at him. "If you'd just stop moving I'd let you go."

"Then I better keep moving."

Ryo blushed. "Idiot."

Dee smiled. "Yeah, but I'm your idiot."

Ryo ran a finger down Dee's cheek. "Why did you go by yourself? You could've told me..."

"I wasn't sure if I was right. I knew you'd insist on waiting, so I just skipped the argument."

"You should've told me! What if you'd died and I...I..."

"Ryo..."

"You never think about me, do you?"

"What're you talking about?"

"You never think about how I'd feel. You run off and do stupid things like this and..."

"What was I supposed to do, invite you along?"

"You could've at least told me!"

"You would've come, or tried to stop me. Or warned her. You never could act that well."

Ryo glared.

"If I'd brought you along something would've gone wrong, something I couldn't handle."

"I could've helped!"

"You're too nice. She would've figured it out."

"I'm an adult Dee, I can handle myself."

"No you can't! You always get in trouble!"

"You get in trouble more than I do!"

"Only because I'm busy keeping you out of it!"

"Maybe you should just concentrate on keeping yourself out of it!"

"And let you die? Hell no! I knew she had the knife, how do you think I'd've felt watching her cut you up?"

"...Dee..."

"She would've, you know. She'd have figured it out, you would've blurted something out wrong if only to give her a chance to defend herself, and then she'd grab one of us and threaten the other. I wasn't about to sit back and watch her hurt you and I wasn't going to get myself killed like some idiot hostage."

"And how do you think I feel, finding out that you're in surgery because she tried to crush your skull with a paperweight?"

"..."

"You never think about that, do you? You promised you wouldn't leave me alone!"

"I'm still here, aren't I?"

"But what if next time..." Ryo choked up, he couldn't even say it.

"And what if next time I don't get involved, and you die? What then? Am I supposed to think that, even though I could've done something it's better that I didn't because I might've spared your feelings?"

"..."

Dee glared at him, disgruntled. Here he was, wounded, and Ryo was picking fights with him! "You'd better get used to being protected because I plan to keep bailing you out for a long time."

Ryo bit his lip. "..."

"Ryo?... Are you crying? Hey, what's wrong?"

"N-Nothing...just..."

"Ryo..." Dee sighed, pulling him closer. Ryo cried quietly against him for awhile. "You're so emotional."

"..."

"Oh well, I guess that's part of what makes you you though..."

"Dee..."

"Don't worry, Ryo. We have plenty of time. I'm not about to let some two-bit psycho kill me, or you. The way I see it, we'll live forever."

Ryo chuckled weakly. "Or it'll at least seem like forever."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing..."

"...So...is this the end?"

"Of the case? I'd say so. Kind of a anti-climax, if you ask me...then again, I wasn't awake for most of it."

"No, I mean..."

"What? Don't you want me around anymore?"

"Of course I do..."

"Then there's still that. I can live without being pounced by JJ whenever I enter a room... Danny'll recover, and who knows, maybe a year from now we'll all be one big happy family."

"Bikky will still hate you though."

Dee twitched. "Bikky?" He looked around the room. "I forgot about him, where is the little brat?"

"...I don't know. I've barely seen him all week."

Carol grinned. "You got caught."

"Be quiet!" Bikky pulled his cap on tighter, glaring at her. "It wasn't my fault!"

"What'll Ryo say, when he finds out you got caught stealing again?"

"I told you, it wasn't my fault!"

"Sure, sure. I'll bet he'll believe you."

"I don't care!"

"You still mad about that?"

"...No!"

"You are, aren't you?" She laughed. "You act like you've never walked in on an adult couple before."

"Shut up! I haven't!"

"You're blushing!"

"I am not!"

"Yes, you are!"

"Am not!"

"You're a really, really bright red!"

"Shut up!!"

Carol laughed as she ran out of the station, just ahead of Bikky. "When're you going to go back?"

"I've been back, but he hasn't been in."

She grinned. "I bet they both have, but you keep missing them."

"Carol!!"

"Well, it HAS been a week. And it IS Dee and Ryo."

"Shut up!!!" Bikky covered his ears. "I don't want to think about it."

"Well, I think it's cute."

"It was not cute! It was something, but not cute."

"Although, who would've imagined Ryo had it in him. I always figured Dee'd be the one too-"

"Carol!!!!"

* * *

JJ sat in bed, staring at the walls. He was alone...

He sighed, flopping back against the pillows. He hadn't been alone in so long he'd forgotten just how lonely it was. But Sean'd had to go, to handle things. Since... Since...

Laura...

He couldn't believe it. Not Laura. Not sweet overprotective Laura.

Then again, maybe he could. She'd always been just a bit too possessive of Danny. Just a bit too cold to everyone else...Didn't make it any easier to take though. How did one handle finding out a friend was a serial killer who'd shot you then come back to try and finish the job?

Ehh...He didn't want to think about that right now...

He didn't really have a choice though. That thought wouldn't leave his mind, and he had too much time for thinking. Sure, Danny was in and out, usually with Josh, and Sean came most of the time she wasn't there but... It'd never be the same.

That was the real problem. Everything had changed so much...Danny and Josh were now practically inseparable, he still didn't like the guy though. Sean was depressed, although he tried to hide it. He'd been going out with Laura, off and on, so he'd been even closer to her. They'd never be the same again.

Closing his eyes he remembered what Danny had said when he'd commented on that.

It doesn't matter if it's the same. I don't really want it to be. As long as it's the three of us-I really wish you'd just try and get along with Josh JJ, it'd make things so much easier-then everything will be fine. Ne?

The three of them...Maybe they could get through this. Who knows where they'd be a year from now, they may even have recovered by then. But... He sighed, drifting towards sleep. It didn't really matter anymore. Nothing would be the same, that was for sure, but maybe...maybe things would get better.

As long as they had each other.

Owari

JJ: o_O;;; That's IT?
Leah: I'm DONE! *_* I actually finished it!
Danny: That wasn't a very good ending.
Josh: That has to be the corniest ending line ever.
Leah: Damare!
Dee and Ryo: We're happy with it.
Others: _ Shush.
Sean: Umm...Did I have a point?
Brett: You're one to talk, what about me?
Leah: Shut up, all of you. I'm going to sleep.
Danny: We'll still be here in the morning you know.
Leah:... I can't win, can I?
Danny: Nope.
Leah sighs. "...Oh well! It's still done!" n.n v
Everyone: LEAH-SAN!